LawSense School Enrolment Workshop

Updating & Optimising Contracts, Denying Enrolment & Dealing With Challenging Scenarios

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Program

11.00    LawSense Welcome

11.05    Chairperson’s Introduction

Adrian Lennard, Business Director & Chief Financial Officer, Wesley College, Victoria

11.10    Refusing Enrolment: Navigating Disability, Unjustifiable Hardship, Gender and Other Issues

• Exploring the grounds upon which a school may wish to query or decline enrolment:
  • student behaviour record or incidents or school refusal in previous schools
  • student disability which is unable to be reasonably accommodated
  • other issues, including sex or gender, the religious/ideological basis of or operational limitations of the school
• Examining best practice in assessing enrolment, including using enrolment panels

Sex/Gender

• Navigating rights and obligations where the student is expressing a different gender to their sex on the birth certificate

Student Behaviour

• Student behaviour record – ensuring you obtain all key information from parents and the student before forming a view
• Examining key considerations in declining enrolment based on information you have about student behaviour

Student Disability

• Student disability:
  • examining when and on what basis a school can decline enrolment
  • ensuring you have sought all the relevant information in order to make a defensible decision
  • declining enrolment where information has not been provided or where misleading information has been given

Unjustifiable Hardship

• Examining when you can decline enrolment for unjustifiable hardship. What is ’unjustifiable’?
• Balancing the impacts:

• on other students – to what extent does this factor into ‘unjustifiable hardship’ or ‘reasonable’ adjustments?
• impacts on staff – understanding what to consider

• factoring in limitations on resources as a result of already supporting a number of students with a disability

Delayed or Conditional Enrolment, Reviewing Enrolment

• Exploring options to:
  • delay enrolment or make enrolment conditional
  • provide for a review ongoing enrolment, for example to allow for withdrawal of enrolment if there is a change in the level of disability

Incomplete Information or Failure to Provide Information

• Exploring when you can decline enrolment for a failure to provide adequate or complete information at the time of application

Defensible Documentation of Decisions

• Documenting decisions to refuse enrolment to optimise legal defensibility

Ben Tallboys, Principal, Russell Kennedy; Legal Counsel, Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA)

12.20    Break

12.30    Updating Enrolment Frameworks and Contracts: What Should You Ensure Is Included In 2026?

Outlining Key Applicable Laws

• Outlining key laws applying to enrolment contracts, including the Australian Consumer Law
• Learning from notable cases

Managing Pre-Enrolment

• Managing pre-enrolment including:
  • the application form, what should be included and ensuring your collecting of data limits privacy breach risks and optimises privacy compliance
  • managing waitlists
  • rights and obligations in obtaining information from a previous school

Key Matters to Include in 2026

• Identifying key contract clauses and documents to have in the current environment
• Addressing particular challenges, including:
  • separated families
  • Consumer Law issues and fee recovery
  • student behaviour – social media, breach of school values, uniforms
  • parent behaviour including terminating enrolment
  • privacy and consent issues
  • inclusivity including sex/gender
  • information regarding student disability

Clauses Dealing with Terminating Enrolment

• Optimising terms allowing the school to terminate enrolment due to:
  • student or parent behaviour, including due to mutual relationship breakdown
  • fee payment issues

Modifying Enrolments Terms

• Changing enrolment terms during the course of the student’s enrolment at the school

Steven Troeth, Partner, Gadens

1.30      Break

1.40      Case Studies: Relying on Enrolment Documentation in Challenging Scenarios, Including Learnings from Recent Fees Cases, Separated Parents, Student Disability Changes, Student and Parent Behaviour, Suspensions and Withdrawing/Terminating Enrolment

• Learnings from how schools have relied on enrolment documentation in particular circumstances and examining where schools have come unstuck. Areas include:
  • separated parents
  • withdrawal of enrolment due to change in student disability – unjustifiable hardship or issues with reasonable adjustments
  • suspensions or expulsions for student behaviour, including breach of school values, or continued “lower level” issues such as uniform policy breaches
  • student counselling
  • withdrawing enrolment because of the conduct of parents
  • withdrawal of enrolment because of a failure of parents to provide key information
  • changing of fee structures or teaching arrangements
  • seeking fees relating to parents withdrawing the student from school
• Optimising communications with parents and advocates to ensure you can rely on enrolment terms and defend your legal position

Emily Haar, Partner, Piper Alderman

2.40      Chairperson’s Conclusion

2.45      Event Close

Presenters / panelists include:

	Prior to commencing as Chief Financial Officer and Business Director of Wesley College in 2024, Adrian was the Chief Operating Officer at Luther College, his alma mater, where he ensured the financial sustainability of the College and helped guide its strategy for the future. He was Assistant General Counsel, Bank of America Merrill Lynch from 2014 to 2018. Prior to that, Adrian was Vice President and Legal Counsel of Credit Suisse from 2011 to 2014, Director of Tax and Legal, PwC from 2009 to 2011, Associate Director of Macquarie Bank from 2004 to 2009, and Senior Associate at Minter Ellison.
	Ben Tallboys provides sector-specific, practical legal solutions to schools across Australia. Ben is a passionate and effective advocate for principals dealing with complex matters relating to parents, staff and students, as well as their own employment.
	Steven Troeth has extensive experience in the education sector, including acting for independent and Catholic schools. He advises on employment, student and parent issues, including staff and teacher disputes, discrimination, bullying, cyber and social media issues, enterprise agreements and contractual disputes.
	Emily Haar specialises in Employment and Education Law. Emily has a particular focus on the education industry, and in addition to the “usual” employment matters, she assists non-government schools with issues as varied as enrolment contracts, managing difficult parents (particularly where there are family law proceedings), school governance, privacy queries, and student and staff safety.

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